MBARI’s ROV ‘Doc Ricketts’ Marks Its 600th Submersion

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts successfully completed its 600th dive. Since February 2009, Doc Ricketts has explored the deep sea as far north as the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the Pacific northwest coast and as south as Baja California, Mexico. 

Doc Ricketts is MBARI’s next generation ROV developed at SMD. The system breaks new ground in providing an integrated unmanned submersible research platform, with many powerful features providing efficient, reliable and precise sampling and data collection in a wide range of missions.

Doc Ricketts is equipped with manipulator arms for grabbing, moving, or placing items in the sea. High-definition video and still cameras on the vehicle records images of sea life, geology, and experiments. The vehicle carries a variety of sampling equipment and sensors for collecting information about the ocean and seafloor.

ROV Doc Ricketts is capable of diving to 4,000 meters (about 2.5 miles). MBARI purchased ROV Doc Ricketts in 2008 and has continually customized and upgraded the vehicle since then. The Doc Ricketts replaced MBARI’s previous 4,000-meter ROV, Tiburon. The Western Flyer is the support vessel for Doc Ricketts and was designed with a center well whose floor can be opened to allow Doc Ricketts to be launched from within the ship into the water below.